Edu-IT Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 We've got a printer that is connected directly to a computer and sharing is enabled. At 4pm the printer becomes unavailable but no restrictions have been set. Any ideas why this?
contink Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 Stupid question but it's got to be asked... Is the computer it's connected to being turned off?
Ryan Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 That'd be the obvious one! The printer has to be turned on (can be on but logged off) to serve the printer to the network.
Edu-IT Posted April 18, 2008 Author Posted April 18, 2008 No, the computer is left on. That was the first thing I checked too.
contink Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 No, the computer is left on. That was the first thing I checked too. I assumed it would be but it's always the "obvious" things that leave us looking red faced Ok... next up.. - is anything else in that room/area becoming "unavailable" - is a cleaner unplugging the printer every evening to use the socket - have you checked the local permissions for the system - is it always bang on at 4pm? I'll be honest I'm guessing like fury here but it might shake something free.
Gerry Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 Can you ping the PC it's connected to? Can it print after 4pm? Is PC going into standby?
Michael Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 The obvious one is right click a printer > Properties > Advanced tab. Check no time limits have been set. I can't see what else is causing this behaviour unless there's some third party software installed?
Edu-IT Posted April 18, 2008 Author Posted April 18, 2008 (edited) I'm not usually here at the time so I can't answer some of those questions however I will probably hang around one night and see it for myself. It is happening regularly though. It's weird. I will check to see whether the computer is set to go into standby. I know for sure that no time restrictions have been set as I checked that before posting. Ok... next up.. - is anything else in that room/area becoming "unavailable" - is a cleaner unplugging the printer every evening to use the socket - have you checked the local permissions for the system - is it always bang on at 4pm? No, the computers still function in the room as expected and they're connected to the network so I am assuming that everything else is unaffected. I don't think the cleaners would unplug the printer as the socket isn't easily accessible. There are also empty sockets around the room which can be used. What permissions should I be checking? The screenshot I have shows that the printer becomes unavailable at 4.01pm and as I previously mentioned this happens frequently. Edited April 18, 2008 by Edu-IT
Michael Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 You could try deleting and re-creating the printer. As long as you share it using the same share name, your other workstations will still be able to print to it You don't have anything along the lines of Print Manager Plus or some other printer management tool? If the printer allows you to connect to it by browser using an IP address, I'd check there's nothing on the printer firmware itself stopping printing after 4pm.
Edu-IT Posted April 18, 2008 Author Posted April 18, 2008 I'll do what you've suggested, delete and recreate the printer. I can't think of anything else to check.
eean Posted April 20, 2008 Posted April 20, 2008 An odd one... Try connecting to the computer's admin share (\\computername\c$). Check this works before 4pm then try it after when the printer is not working. That might give you a clue as to whether it's something to do with the network. It's there's not something daft like windows update or a virus scanner updating itself at that time (not that it should matter, of course).
Edu-IT Posted April 20, 2008 Author Posted April 20, 2008 Thanks for the suggestions. I'll take a lot tomorrow and try and hang around after school to see what happens at 4pm.
Geoff Posted April 20, 2008 Posted April 20, 2008 Other thing that comes to mind is that you may be hitting the 10 connection limits in XP. You can verify this by checking the connections section of the computer management mmc. Also, there will be errors in the system event log complaining about it
Edu-IT Posted April 20, 2008 Author Posted April 20, 2008 Other thing that comes to mind is that you may be hitting the 10 connection limits in XP. You can verify this by checking the connections section of the computer management mmc. Also, there will be errors in the system event log complaining about it That's a good point and one which I didn't think about. I don't think ten people would all try to print at the same time though. I take it that they need to be printing in order to be counted as a connection?
Geoff Posted April 20, 2008 Posted April 20, 2008 I wouldn't be so sure, some connections can 'hang' and stick around for days. As I said, the only way to be sure is to check the computer management MMC and the event log. 1
Edu-IT Posted April 20, 2008 Author Posted April 20, 2008 I wouldn't be so sure, some connections can 'hang' and stick around for days. As I said, the only way to be sure is to check the computer management MMC and the event log. I'll do that first thing. Thanks a lot! I never even thought about that.
contink Posted April 21, 2008 Posted April 21, 2008 I'll do that first thing. Thanks a lot! I never even thought about that. Me either in truth... Good catch there Geoff..
Edu-IT Posted April 21, 2008 Author Posted April 21, 2008 I couldn't see anything in the event log. I've reinstalled the printer and I'll see if that has solved the problem.
Bestbett Posted April 21, 2008 Posted April 21, 2008 First thing that came to mind for me knowing it's a client and not a server was to check in Device Manager on the network card and ensure it is unchecked to be controlled by power settings.
Edu-IT Posted April 21, 2008 Author Posted April 21, 2008 First thing that came to mind for me knowing it's a client and not a server was to check in Device Manager on the network card and ensure it is unchecked to be controlled by power settings. The computer doesn't turn off at all so will that still need to be checked?
richard.thomas Posted April 22, 2008 Posted April 22, 2008 Yes it does. XP can suspend the power to a USB port if it's not being used
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